Red currants are not illegal in the US under federal law, and they haven’t been since 1966. Most states allow you to grow them without any special paperwork. A small number still ban all plants in the Ribes genus, and several others require a permit before you plant. Whether you can legally grow red currants comes down entirely to your state, and in some cases your county.
Why Currants Got a Reputation for Being Illegal
The myth traces back to a federal ban that lasted roughly half a century. Around 1900, a fungal disease called white pine blister rust arrived in North America on imported pine seedlings and began killing commercially valuable white pines. The fungus cannot spread from pine to pine on its own. It needs an alternate host to complete its lifecycle, and that host is any plant in the Ribes genus, which includes currants and gooseberries.1USDA Forest Service. White Pine Blister Rust
To protect the timber industry, the federal government banned the cultivation, sale, and transport of all Ribes species. The exact start date is debated, with some sources pointing to 1911 and the Plant Quarantine Act that gave the Department of Agriculture its authority not enacted until 1912.2Library of Congress Blogs. Americas Blackcurrant Ban By the 1920s, crews were ripping Ribes plants out of forests across the country.
Breeding programs eventually produced white pines and Ribes varieties with genetic resistance to the disease, and the federal government lifted the ban in 1966, delegating regulation to the states.2Library of Congress Blogs. Americas Blackcurrant Ban Some states repealed their restrictions within a few years. Others took decades. New York, once the center of American currant growing, didn’t lift its ban until 2003.
Red Currants vs. Black Currants
Most of the “currants are illegal” reputation belongs to the European black currant (Ribes nigrum), not the red currant (Ribes rubrum). The two species pose very different risks to white pines. Black currants are far more effective hosts for blister rust. Their leaves are larger, they produce more abundant spore clusters, and the spores survive longer after dispersal. In direct comparisons, red currant cultivars showed just 0.1 percent diseased leaf area, while black currants reached 15 percent.3American Phytopathological Society. Impact of White Pine Blister Rust on Resistant Cultivated Ribes and Implications for Currant and Gooseberry Production Some red currant cultivars are considered practically immune.
States write their rules around this difference. Many states that still restrict black currants let you grow red currants freely or with minimal paperwork. Where red currants are restricted at all, the rules are usually lighter than those for black currants. If someone has told you currants are banned in the US, they are almost certainly describing a rule that targets black currants and has been generalized to the whole genus.
What State Rules Actually Look Like
Regulation after 1966 became a patchwork. State rules fall into a few patterns.
A small number of states ban all Ribes species outright. These are the exception and tend to appear in states where white pine remains commercially important or where the original state quarantine was simply never repealed. In those states, possession of currant or gooseberry plants is prohibited, red or black.
Several states allow red currants but require a permit before planting. The paperwork is usually straightforward. You provide your name and address, the specific variety and quantity, the planting location, and sometimes a site map. The exact cultivar is the key piece of information, because most permit states draw sharp lines between red and black varieties and may approve the first while denying the second.
Other states take a geographic approach. Ribes planting is restricted only in counties or townships near significant white pine populations, with buffer zones that can extend 1,500 feet or more from white pine stands. Outside those zones, red currants face no restrictions at all.
A growing number of states place no special requirements on currants or gooseberries. The overall trend has been toward relaxation as rust-resistant varieties have become widely available.
Buying and Shipping Red Currants
Even where growing red currants is legal, moving plants across state lines adds another layer of rules. Nursery stock shipped between states must come with a certificate from the originating state confirming the plants were inspected and found free of dangerous pests and diseases. Plants imported from outside the US require a phytosanitary certificate identifying the genus and, where importation is restricted by species, the specific cultivar.4eCFR. 7 CFR 319.37-6 – Phytosanitary Certificates
Reputable nurseries handle this for you. They know which states they can ship to and will decline orders bound for restricted areas. The risk goes up when you buy plants informally, trade with another gardener, or receive them as a gift from out of state. Moving uninspected Ribes plants into a state with an active quarantine can mean confiscation and destruction of the plants.
A note on the fruit itself: the restrictions discussed here apply to live plants, which can host the fungus. Dried red currants and prepared products sold in grocery stores are a separate matter and are not what state Ribes rules regulate.
How to Check Your State’s Rules
Because regulation is now entirely a state matter, no single federal resource lists every state’s current Ribes rules. Start with your state’s department of agriculture, which administers plant quarantines and issues permits where required. Many state agricultural extension services also publish plain-language guides on which Ribes species you can grow and under what conditions.
Three things to confirm before you buy:
- Whether your state distinguishes between red currants (Ribes rubrum) and black currants (Ribes nigrum). The restrictions are often very different.
- Whether your county falls within a white pine protection zone, even if your state allows Ribes cultivation elsewhere.
- Whether the specific cultivar you want is on your state’s approved list, if one exists.
If a permit is required, apply before you buy the plants. Turnaround is usually quick, but planting before you have approval can mean losing the plants to enforcement.